Mobility Site

Laptop Hunters adds are working

ctitanic — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:20:00 +0000

No comments from my side, just read this.

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner relayed a funny story about Apple. The Cupertino Mac maker recently called Microsoft and demanded that the software giant stop running its "Laptop Hunter" ads on TV. The ads highlight how expensive Macs are compared to PCs, and how much more choice there is in the PC market. That’s a lot of chutzpah, even for Apple: Its annoying "I’m a Mac" ads have been running for years and often include inaccurate information about Windows and PCs.
Turner revealed how desperate Apple is to prevent people from realizing how much more expensive Macs are than PCs. "Two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, ‘Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices,’" he said. "They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call that I’ve ever taken in business."

Finally, Microsoft had gotten to Apple. "I did cartwheels down the hallway," Turner continued. "At first I said, ‘Is this a joke? Who are you?’ We’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them."

Turner noted that the ads work because they’re the truth. He talked about reading an ad for an electronics retailer in the newspaper this past Sunday and examining the prices for different computers. "You can get a 13.3” Macbook for $1,199 from that retailer," he said. "Guess what? [From] that same retailer, you can get a PC with more RAM, a bigger hard drive, and almost a three-inch bigger screen for $649. This is…the Apple Tax."

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Kids Today….

Zealot — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:52:53 +0000

…are conflicted. Typical.

Only a few days ago Morgan Stanley released their report on teen media consumption, in which teenager Matthew Robson said this about teens buying music…

They are very reluctant to pay for it (most never having bought a CD) and a large majority (8/10) downloading it illegally from file sharing sites.

And now today techrader runs the following news, showing the results of a recent study of music buying trends in the UK…

1,000 music fans took part in the Speakerbox survey – conducted by The Leading Question and Music Ally – which is a yearly look at how music is consumed in the UK.

According to the research, 73 per cent of music fans are still happy buying CDs rather than downloading, with 66 per cent of 14 to 18 year olds still happy to purchase a CD.

So which is it…most teens have never bought a CD with 80 percent just downloading music for free, or two thirds are happy to buy CDs? Can both be true? Maybe neither are. Maybe such matters are too complex and individual to be summed up in a few pages of a single study, whatever the hype machine may say?

Just goes to show what Benjamin Disraeli said long ago…there are lies, damned lies, and studies of teenagers in the UK.

(Picture credit: Getty)

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REVIEW: Mimo UM-710 USB Monitor

Zealot — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:00:36 +0000

Who doesn’t occasionally wish they had a few more inches of monitor space? Maybe you want to still see your email client while playing WoW on full screen or when you have too many Word documents open. Maybe you like to keep your IM client or Skype or your music software on an easily visible side screen, away from other applications. Well then, you need another monitor. Sadly, limitations imposed by hardware, graphics cards, desk space and budgets often keep us from adding another full size monitor to our computer set up. Now however there are USB-powered alternatives, small, relatively inexpensive monitors that don’t need to be connected to your graphics card.

One of the first of these products to be readily available is the Mimo UM-710, A 7 inch flat panel monitor that runs at a resolution of 800×480 (NOTE - and retails for $129.99 in the US and online, thanks for the reminder Breley) I have had a few days to play with a model, and thus far have found it far more useful and robust then I had been expecting it to be, with a few small reservations.

(...) Read the rest of REVIEW: Mimo UM-710 USB Monitor (1,195 words)

Summer promotions from Dynamism

ctitanic — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:56:00 +0000

Dynamism is running two promotions that are really good. And I said good because the two products on these promotions are what could be called Best Sellers: Viliv S5 and Viliv X70.

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Music Syncing Solutions for the Pre

Zealot — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:18:17 +0000

Now that Apple has closed the loophole which allowed Palm Pre users to sync their music collections using iTunes (for which they are taking a beating in the blogs), a lot of Pre users are looking for alternatives to keep their music collections up to date on their smartphones.

There actually are a wide range of options available that are completely beyond Apple’s ever more draconian control. For example, the Missing Sync, long an essential tool for Mac users who have Palm devices, is continuing to be able to sync iTunes 8.2.1 with the Pre. The software is Mac only, but I have been assured by Mark/Space however that they will soon have versions ready for XP and Vista.

Jason Chen offers concise reviews of several good alternatives for iTunes at Gizmodo. He prefers an app called DoubleClick, but also suggests other possibilities.

Personally I would recommend using Songbird, a high quality iTunes replacement, or the classic music application WinAmp, which has numerous features for syncing your music collection with mobile devices.

However you feel about Apple’s decision (personally I think it is shortsighted and petty) it is not the end of the world, as there are many ways to use your iTunes music collection without ACTUALLY involving iTunes or Apple.

Rock on, freebird.

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No More Pre iTunes Sync, Palm Doesn’t Give A Crap

Sam Hobson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:28:10 +0000

As to be expected, Apple rolls out an iTunes update that CLAIMS to have bugfixes and security updates, but it’s probably just to stop people from syncing their Pres with iTunes.

Update 8.2.1 killed all of the sync capabilities for iTunes and Pre. I can’t test this, but other people have and have confirmed it.

Palm’s response to the matter:

Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.

Gee thanks for the support, Palm. Just so we can sync your phone, we have to stick to a previous version of iTunes for the rest of our lives. Anyway, they seem to have given up on iTunes. I don’t see any problems with just copying my music folder to the phone via USB. I’ve done that with all of the phones I’ve owned in the past with no problem. But it looks like they are considering other music app softwares, which is also a good idea since not everyone uses iTunes.

What Palm should consider is doing it like RIM and writing a separate app that reads the iTunes database and transfers the music in the database to the phone. In other words, iTunes supplies the music, another app does the syncing. I actually liked this feature on my BlackBerry before I switched from iTunes to Zune.

Of course Apple could also stop being a b**** and allow the phone to sync, but that ain’t ever gonna happen.

via CNET

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HP Still #1 Globally, Dell & Apple Lose Ground

Zealot — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:49:23 +0000

The IDC just released PC sales figures for Q2/09 and it is clear the poor economy was having a big effect on sales. Overall sales were down both in the US and globally with Dell being the big loser, dropping a fifth of their 2008 share in 2009. That translates to losing about 5 percent in real market share in the US and 2.5 percent globally. Acer increased by about the same shares that Dell lost and is growing fast in the US, increasing their market share by 50 percent of what it was in 2008.

Apple dropped to fifth in the US in terms of PC sales. The company had been third in 2008 but was overtaken by both Acer and Toshiba in the US. Apple is not in the top five globally. Most analysts are attributing Apple’s drop to the economy, noting the high prices of Macs as well as the public perception of Macs as “luxury items”. On top of that, lower priced MacBooks were introduced too late to affect these figures, debuting in June.

I would be interested in seeing figures on how many (if any) of the PCs included in these results were netbooks. If netbooks WERE included in the figures then the success of the Acer Aspire One and the relative failure of Dell’s netbook line, not to mention to total lack of a netbook product from Apple, may have been a major contributor to the rise and fall of these companies last quarter.

(Source – Electronista)

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Toshiba TG01s Sick in Germany

Zealot — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:03:12 +0000

Apparently now you don’t even need to hit the internet before your brand new device can be infected with a virus. O2 in Germany has confirmed that it has stopped shipping the Snapdragon-based Toshiba TG01 smartphones because in addition to it’s other killer features the handset comes with a virus built right in, standard. No need to download it yourself, it is right there when you configure the phone. Now THAT is convenience.

No one is sure how the virus ended up on the phones yet and there are currently conflicting reports about the nature of the virus; some reports indicate it was preloaded on the Windows Mobile 6.1 file tree and others say it was on the MicroSD memory cards installed on the phone. There is also no information about what particular virus it is, but all seem to agree it is harmless, or relatively so. WHY they are recalling all the phones for a harmless virus is less clear, but better safe then sorry.

Toshiba is not commenting beyond saying that they are investigating the matter, but O2 said it will have new, virus-free TG01s out next week and will replace all infected models. If I had a TG01 in Germany right now, i wouldn’t be holding my breath. This looks to be a major black eye for both 02 and Toshiba in the highly competitive German mobile market.

(First Source: The Register, Photo Credit: Unwired View)

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BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone

Gil Bouhnick — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:17:02 +0000

(Image taken from The iPhone Blog)

I found an interesting article at PCWorld, comparing between BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3GS.

The writer is definitely an iPhone fan and seems to criticize most of the BlackBerry features (UI, trackball, mails functionality, keyboard).

I found some interesting points in the article, but I have to admit I do not agree with many of them (I do agree with some). For example, I actually like the BlackBerry emails application, I also love the keyboard, and think that the trackball is great.

I do think that there is no comparison with the iPhone when it comes to user interface and third party applications.

(...) Read the rest of BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone (227 words)

Microsoft Renaissance?

Zealot — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:19:56 +0000

It seems that Microsoft, the company which everyone and their dog has spent the last decade loving to hate, has found new life. First Zune and XBox 360 began getting some love, then there was all the positive buzz about Windows 7. Suddenly all sorts of Microsoft projects were getting good press. Did anyone predict that Bing would be so well received as a Google alternative? Was anyone else amazed that acid-penned Microsoft critic Mini was actually saying the company was making all the right moves? Now it seems as if Microsoft is beating the odds and coming back strong as a popular, respected company. Could it be Redmond has begun to turn the corner on Apple fanboy jokes and Gizmodo pictures of Steve Ballmer sweating?

The Telegraph is reporting the following today…

Microsoft has left Google behind to grab the top spot in the list of UK’s best brand.

The software company, co-founded by Bill Gates, moved from second to first place in a list of the 500 brands that the public thought were reliable, distinguished, and the best quality.

In the second place was Rolex, the watch manufacturer, followed by Google, which was last year’s winner. At the fourth and fifth place were British Airways and the BBC, respectively.

Even better is this little tidbit….

She added many consumers had “learnt to love” Microsoft, with some even seeing it as an underdog now that it was challenging online media companies.

YYEESSSSSSS…Payback’s a B*TCH, Google.

I have been hearing that the last part of 2009 and 2010 are going to be filled with high profile, impressive Microsoft releases of which Windows 7 will be just the beginning…and that is sounding more and more plausible. Lets hope WinMo 7 really shakes things up soon.

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The Sprint Branded HTC Snap Has Arrived

Chris Leckness — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:35:46 +0000

Lately I have been quite busy and I have to apologize. I received the HTC Snap yesterday but sadly I didn’t have time to open the box until this morning. I knew what was in the Fed-Ex box, but I couldn’t get to it last night. I am very sorry. Please stand by for images and video later today…

If you can remember far back enough, I had an opportunity to mess around with the HTC Snap back at CTIA in Vegas. Now I have some time with the Sprint branded version.

PS. If you are in the market for a Windows Mobile Smartphone without a touch screen and a full front facing keyboard, Breley just reviewed the Samsung Jack the other day. The HTC Snap is going to be very similar.

The Sprint HTC Snap is already at Sprint for $149 with contract after some rebates and all.

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Outlook 2010

ctitanic — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:58:00 +0000

I just installed the Technical Preview of Office 2010. Without any doubt the tool that I use most of the time is Outlook so it was the first one I checked. After a quick conversion of my 2007 file it opened and really impressed me with a new look. So, I want to share a few screen shots that will show what I’m saying.

(...) Read the rest of Outlook 2010 (0 words)

Brighthand Reviews Palm Classic

Zealot — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:12:39 +0000

Back when I first started using Palm-based PDAs, Brighthand was always the first site I would go to every morning. The coverage of PDAs and smartphones has always been top notch and editor Ed Hardy has a masterful grasp of the big picture in the mobile tech industry, especially regarding Palm.

Therefore when I saw Hardy was reviewing Classic , a Palm Pre application made by MotionApps, I was eager to see what he had to say. Classic is one of the most interesting applications out there for the Pre, in my opinion, since it makes Palm’s new WebOS backward compatible. It is an emulator which allows the vast library of old school PalmOS productivity and business apps (numbering in the several billion, it seems sometimes) to be used on new devices running Palm’s new WebOS.

As expected, the review is very useful and gives both the pros and cons of the application…here is a bit of the conclusion.

I think of MotionApps Classic as a transitional aid. It will help long-time Palm OS users switch to the webOS, and help Palm, Inc. get the webOS off the ground.

What it’s not going to do is turn a Palm Pre into a Treo. At the very least, you’re still going to need to use the webOS’s email software and web browser, and I’d suggest everyone who gets a Pre get accustomed to their device’s default user interface. I promise, before you know it, you’ll wonder what you ever saw in the Palm OS.

See the entire review HERE.

(Photo Credit: Brighthand)

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Samsung Omnia II Emulator

Gil Bouhnick — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:23:25 +0000

Samsung, following the recent trend, has come up with a nice simulator of the new Omnia user interface.

I like those things as it gives a good impression of one of the most important things in an advance mobile device - the user interface experience.

Check our the emulator in here.

First impression: Like in the previous Omnia - loud’s of customizations, but a nicer layout (iPhone style pages, shortcuts, and widgets), nice black theme (also in the standard applications!), more custom apps - and they are looking very good I must say.

OK I Will have 3 of those please…

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CONTEST: Win a 16GB MicroSDHC from SanDisk

Zealot — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:20:48 +0000

So did the recent SanDisk MicroSDHC review make you realize you NEED more storage space on your phone or MP3 Player? A LOT more space?

Well, MobilitySite and SanDisk are happy to help you out. We have a new SanDisk 16GB MicroSDHC card to give away to one lucky reader. All you need to do to qualify is to comment to this post and tell us what device you would like to use the card in. It’s that simple.

The winner will be selected at random from all eligible comments to this post next Tuesday, July 21st.

Good luck and start ripping those DVDs…there may be some mobile video in your future.

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